Mine and torpedo guard.



J. A. STEINMETZ.

MINE AND TORPEDO GUARD.

APPLICATION FILED MAY-l3, I915.

1,171,153. r Patented Feb. 8,1916.

JOSEPH A. STEINMETZ, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

MINE-AND monrnbo GUARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 8, 1916.

Application filed May 13, 1915. Serial No. 27,826.

To all whom 2'2. may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH A. STEIN- METZ, a citizenof the UnitedStates, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia andState of Pennsylvania, have' invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Mine and Torpedo Guards, of which the following is aspecification," reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

The objectof this invention is the protection of ships against mines,torpedoes and the like, and this end is attained by float-carriedshields or sheets at a greater distance from the protected vessel thanit is practically possible to carry them by means of arms projectingfrom theves sel itself. Such sheets may be moved by and with theprotected vessels themselves; or

may be independently advanced and controlled by small pilot craft ofrelatively slight value and importance, or by larger protected ships; ormay be carried as fin keels by special-boats, the fin-keels beinghollow, having two parallel spaced plates, or being single plates asabove stated;v or each sheet may be carried by single or alining boatsof any desired type, for example, non-submerged submarines, ordestroyers,

real, or simulated, so that the guarded ship seems convoyed by smallcraft capable of dangerous attack, the uncertainty as to the actualcharacter of the small craft efiectively deterring hostile submarines orothe craft from near approach.

In the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of avessel, protected by one form of my devices, which are towed andimmediately controlled by a pilot craft. Fig. 2 shows from the frontsuch a vessel and the protecting devices. Fig. 3 is a side viewanalogous to Fig. 2. Fig. 4 shows in plan a ship protected by devicessimilar to those shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, but moved and controlled by thevessel which they protect. Fig. 5 isa side view of'the devices seen inFig. 4. Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing a modification. Fig.7 is a side view showing shields or guards suspended from two aliningboats or floats.

In 'Figs. 1, 2, 3, A represents a battleship or other vessel, B a towingpilot 'vessel at some distance in advance of the same, and C, C floats,shown in these illustrative figures as cylindrical pontoons, at somedistance from the sides of the vessel A, respectively, and attached tothe vessel B by suit-' able towlines 'D, D. Preferably each pontoon isdivided into separate hermetically closed chambers by partitions E andis provided at each end with divergent-rudderlike plates F which tend toforce both the forward ends and rear ends of the pontoons apart or awayfrom the vessels path. The

forward ends of the floats preferably extend to some distance in advanceof the vessel A. The forward ends of the floats are preferably joined bya strong flexible connection G from which depend, at shortintervals,-heavy bars H extending below theplane-of the vessel A. Eachfloat, in this form, should be in length, size, and posh tion, adaptedto support a depending plane metal sheet for protecting the vital parts,at least, of the vessel A, and this plate or sheet is usually made up ofjoined sections, extending substantially from end to end of the floatanddownwardly to adepth greater than the draft of the vessel,orfsufficiently to protect the vital belt. The plate I is heavy, but asit passes edgewise through the water it offers very slight resistance totowing, an advantage gained by using smooth 'pla-ne plates. Theplatescannot be penetrated by an ordinary torpedo, they ofler enoughresistance to insure the explosion of any contact torpedo which maystrike them, and they are at such distances from the protected vesselthat the latter will not be injured by such explosion.- The connection Gand bars H, which maybe at any desired intervals, offer littleresistance to towing, and are adapted to strike and explode any ordinaryfloating or anchored mines that'inay be met, and are at a safe distancefrom the protected vessel. Obviously the pilot vessel B may be of anysize,

even such a vessel as A, and it may itself be protected by deviceshereinafter described. l v

With any vessel A, the floats may be towed by the vessel itself,towlines D D, Fig. 4, of suitable length connecting the forward and rearportions, respectively, of the float to the bow and stern'portions' ofthe vessel A.' Preferably the forward towline is the longer and isattached to the float at some distance in the rear of its forward .endso that the float is automatically retained at a distance fromthe-vessel, even without the inclined rudder plates before mentioned. a

As shown in Fig. 6, the pontoons may be replaced by boats K which may,if desired, simulate non-submerged submarines, destroyers, or othercraft calculated to deter close inspection by hostile craft. Such boatswhatever their apparent character may carry the guard plates as finkeels, either single plates, or hollow, or consisting of spaced parallelplates L, L. Whatever their construction, the floats may be used singlyor may be connected at their forward ends by suitable torpedo-engagingor detonating devices, other than those of Fig.- 2, a network M ofcables being shown, although various constructions may be used.

Fig. 7 shows guard plates I suspended from alining discontinuous floatsor boats N, the same forming guard units whereby any desired length ofguard may be secured.

It may be noted further that such heavy plates extending far down in thewater and towed rapidly in any desired direction are highly effective inattacking sub-marines.

What I claim is: I

1. The combination with two approximately parallel and vertical sheetssustained and held apart wholly by the water in which they move andadapted in size and character to explode a contact torpedo moving towardthe side of a vessel located between the sheets, and means for,towingthe sheets in proper position for protecting a moving vessel so located.

2.,The combinationwith two approximately vertical floating metal sheetsadapted to be placedon opposite sides, respectively, of a vessel and toprotect the vital parts thereof, of means for towing the. sheets at suchdistance from an interposed vessel as to avoid injury to the latter bythe. explosion of a torpedo in contact with either sheet; said sheetsbeing supported and spaced wholly independently of vessel borne arms.

3. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with anapproximately vertical float-supported protecting sheet forming afloating unit, of a second like unitalongside the first and at adistance therefrom materially greater than the width of a vesselv to beprotected, flexible connections joining the forward portions of saidunits near their upper limits and lower limits, and means for towingsaid units and maintaining them in approximately constant position withre-.

spect to a vessel placed centrally between them; said units beingsupported and urged apart solely by the water in which they move.

4. The combination with two float devices adapted to be arranged at adistance from and on opposite sides of a vessel to be pro tected andsupported and urged apart wholly by the water in which they advance, ofa flexible connection joining the upper and forward portions of the twofloats, a series of heavy bars depending at short intervals from saidconnection,'and means for towing the float devices in approximatelyconstant position with respect to a vessel centrally located betweenthem.

'5. The combination with a vessel to be protected, of a vertical metalsheet floating freely independently of and alongside the vessel andadapted in size to protect the vital parts of the latter, a like sheetsimilarly located on the opposite side of the vessel, and linesextending from the vessel to the sheets, respectively,and arranged totow them in practically constant relative position.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

" JOSEPH A. STEINMETZ.

